1The first covenant did have rules for worship, and a holy place here on earth.
2For a tabernacle was made. In its first part were the lampstand, the table, and the showbread. This part is called the sanctuary.
3Behind the second veil was the part of the tabernacle called the Holiest of all.
4It had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant, covered all over with gold. Inside the ark were the golden pot holding the manna, Aaron's rod that had budded, and the tablets of the covenant.
5Above the ark were the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat. We cannot speak about these things in detail now.
6When everything was set up in this way, the priests went into the first part of the tabernacle all the time, doing the service of God.
7But only the high priest went into the second part, and only once a year. He never went without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had done in ignorance.
8By this the Holy Spirit was showing that the way into the Holiest of all was not yet made known, while the first tabernacle was still standing.
9This was a picture for the present time. In it gifts and sacrifices were offered which could not make the worshipper perfect in his conscience.
10They dealt only with food and drink, and various washings, and rules about the body. They were laid on the people until the time when things would be set right.
11But Christ came as a high priest of the good things that were to come. He came through a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not part of this creation.
12He did not enter with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood. He entered the holy place once for all, and won eternal redemption for us.
13The blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, are sprinkled on those who are unclean, and this makes their bodies clean and holy.
14How much more will the blood of Christ cleanse your conscience from dead works, so that you may serve the living God! Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself to God without any spot.
15For this reason he is the mediator of the new covenant. A death has taken place, to set people free from the sins committed under the first covenant. So now those who are called may receive the promise of an eternal inheritance.
16Where there is a will, the one who made it must die.
17A will only takes effect after someone has died. It has no force at all while the one who made it is still alive.
18So even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.
19For when Moses had told all the people every command of the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop. He sprinkled the book itself and all the people,
20saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you to keep."
21In the same way he sprinkled blood on the tabernacle and on all the vessels used in the service.
22Under the law almost everything is cleansed with blood. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23So the copies of the things in heaven had to be made clean in this way. But the heavenly things themselves need better sacrifices than these.
24For Christ did not enter holy places made with hands, which are only copies of the true one. He entered heaven itself, and now appears in the presence of God for us.
25He did not go there to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the holy place every year with blood that is not his own.
26If that were so, he would have had to suffer many times since the world was made. But now, once, at the end of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27It is appointed for people to die once, and after that comes the judgment.
28In the same way Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.